


Two Weeks of Camping

by Eating_jesus



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Humanstuck, M/M, Mild Language, Suggestive Themes, small amount of blood
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-28
Updated: 2017-08-13
Packaged: 2018-11-05 20:40:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11021181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eating_jesus/pseuds/Eating_jesus
Summary: Kankri finds himself forced into a camping trip and while he's not too happy about it, he figures he may as well make the most out of it and try to enjoy himself. He meets a park ranger who he immediately does not care for, but time will tell how he feels about him later. (humanstuck)





	1. We're doing what? For how long?

**Author's Note:**

> Constructive criticism is welcome and appreciated :^). Not sure how often I'll update this but I do definitely plan on adding more and hopefully writing until I come to a satisfactory ending.
> 
> Not sure exactly what direction I'm going to take this in so please check for updated tags and warnings as new chapters come out if you're interested in reading them at all.

     “What do you mean ‘we’re going camping’!?” An angry voice boomed out in the family room and Kankri could hear it clear as day all the way from his bedroom, even with his door closed. Normally he just ignored his younger brother’s loud complaints, but this one caught his attention. He pulled his nose out of his book and himself out of his chair to go and see what all of the commotion and talk of apparent camping was. 

 

     The voices grew louder as he approached and when he appeared in the room, two sets of eyes looked at him. The owners of those eyes shared two very different expressions. Kankri’s father offered a sigh in response to Karkat’s anger and a smile at Kankri's entering.

 

     “Just the person I needed to talk to. I have an idea for a short trip planned for us.” Kankri thought it was amazing how calm his father was able to stay despite his brother’s temperament.

 

     “”Short”” Karkat mocked him and threw up his hands to make quotations in the air around the word before storming off, presumably towards his room. In Kankri’s mind, a short trip meant a jaunt out somewhere that’d only take a few hours at most to complete. Given that the word “camping” was used and Karkat’s mockery of the word short, however, gave Kankri the idea that a short trip would more likely come to mean two or three days. His father waited for Karkat to be away and listened for the slammed door that he knew was coming as his queue to continue speaking.

 

     “I decided that it would be nice to get out of the house a little while and go camping. With you finishing high school and heading to college after summer is up and all, I figured that perhaps we could go and do this as a family before the opportunity escapes us.” His smile began to falter as he braced himself for Kankri’s response which he hoped would be a positive one. Lucky him.

 

     “I think that would be nice. We could all stand to get out of the house for a few days and go enjoy nature. It’s a shame that boy is so reliant on electricity that he can’t bear the idea of sleeping in a cabin.” Kankri was fully on board with this plan. The only issue was that this was not exactly the plan his father had in mind. His eyebrows knit together in confusion as his dad lets out a chuckle.

 

     “A few days? No, Kankri, I’ve rented out enough space for three tents for two weeks. It’s nonrefundable and we’re leaving tomorrow morning.”

 

     “What?” He didn’t want to believe what he was hearing. Does he really expect them to sleep in tents on the ground for two weeks? “Where will we shower? Why tents? More importantly, why are you dropping this on us so last minute?” He kept his voice calm but the tenseness in his body told his father that he was less than pleased. 

 

     “We’re not trekking out into the middle of an uncharted forest or anything now, we’re just heading to the national park an hour east. There will be a building with communal shower stalls. And what’s wrong with a tent? They’re less expensive and you’ll be closer to nature. At the very least, you’ll get your own.”

 

     Kankri waited for him to answer the third question but he never did so he probed at it once more. “Why didn’t you tell us about this sooner?”

 

     “I thought it would be a nice surprise. You’re both going to have fun, you’ll see. Go and pack because we’re leaving early tomorrow.”

 

     He opens his mouth to protest, but instead turned on his heel and headed back to his room to get his things together. As much as he absolutely did not want to go on this trip, he knew that his dad meant well and that he’d already gotten enough anger from Karkat tonight to last a couple of months. Maybe, he figured, he’ll be able to find a way to have them leave the place early and he can come home and sleep in his own bed again. 

 

     On his way through the hall, he caught a glimpse of the foyer where sleeping bags and tents and other camping essentials lie. It appeared that there had already been quite a bit of thought and money put into this trip. He felt bad for not wanting to go, but that didn't make him want to stay home any less. He brushed his teeth and showered for an hour to keep from having to use the communal showers any sooner than necessary. Once his packing was complete, he dove into bed for a restless night of sleep.

 

\---

 

     An alarm blared in his ear to wake him up at six in the morning. An alarm that he did not set himself. Apparently early meant extremely early.

 

     Breakfast was quiet and a bit tense between the three of them but Kankri’s father insisted that they would lighten up when they got there and breathed in the fresh air, and that leaving this early was essential if they were going to beat the morning crowd that Kankri was pretty sure didn’t actually exist. Why would there be a ton of people rushing to some campgrounds this early in the morning? The spaces were already reserved, it’s not like they were first come, first serve or anything. Regardless, he begrudgingly helped fit everything into the back of the minivan and got in for the ride. 

 

     Karkat had to get out and use a gas station bathroom half an hour out, but other than that, the drive was quiet. Their dad suggested playing the license plate game but neither passengers seemed all too interested and both opted to put in headphones and close their eyes instead. That is, until they got closer. The second half of the ride there was actually half enjoyable only because they were further out of the city and their view had changed. If his dad or his brother had noticed the difference, they didn’t say anything about it. Instead of passing shopping malls and fast food restaurants, tall trees and large fields with cattle and horses flew by their windows. Maybe the beauty of the area would be the one redeeming quality of this trip.

 

     Eventually, they pulled in and parked and started the hike to the campgrounds. It only took about ten minutes to get there while carrying all the heavy stuff they had brought. It was nice to know that they were that close to the car. It felt like it meant they were just that much closer to getting to leave. But the trip was only just beginning and Kankri loathed that fact as he struggled to turn metal and fabric into a tent. The instructions made it seem easy enough, but Kankri just couldn’t connect everything together the way it needed to be, so his father elected himself to help do it for him and suggested that Kankri and Karkat go take a walk and stretch their legs a little after being in the car for so long. Karkat, however, was tired and ready to nap. Their father wasn’t too happy about that idea but let him do it anyway, so Kankri went off towards a trail following alongside the river by himself with the promise to be back within an hour or so.

 

     He thought it was kind of ironic that this was supposed to be a family trip and yet they weren’t together, and got the idea that it would be like this for most of the two weeks. At least the trail was beautiful. Trees taller than any he’d ever seen before were everywhere and made the hot day balmy by providing plenty of shade. The dirt path he followed was close to the river and every couple yards there was a way down even closer so that people could do some fishing, though there didn’t seem to be very many people around. It was at one of these little detours that Kankri decided to take a rest. Tree roots had conveniently formed uneven steps down to the bank where he could probably touch the water with his hand if he reached down. He sat there a little while and closed his eyes after a few minutes to enjoy the soothing sounds of birds chirping and water flowing.

 

     His break was interrupted by the sound of rustling in the leaves behind him. It sounded like a person approaching but when he turned around, there was nobody there. Instead, he saw an armadillo crawling along and he wondered how something so small could make so much noise just by walking around. He wished he had a camera or his phone with him to capture an image of the noisy critter.

 

     He leaned against the trunk of a tree and closed his eyes again where he sat undisturbed for another few minutes. The sound of an armadillo moving caught his ear again but he ignored it this time. Except it wasn’t the animal he thought it was, or really an animal at all. This was only found out when the source of the sound of footsteps spoke to him as casual as can be.

 

     “How are you going to enjoy the view of the alligator when your eyes are closed?”

 

     Kankri was shaken out of his trance and stood up so fast that he almost fell over. He caught himself on the tree and looked towards the park ranger who had found him relaxing there.

 

     “That’s not funny, you shouldn’t joke about alligators. They’re dangerous and deadly. More importantly, you shouldn’t sneak up on people and scare them.” Kankri said as he crossed his arms over his chest in annoyance. He looked up and squinted until he could make out the name on the badge on the ranger’s shirt. “I should report you to your superiors, Mr. Cronus.”

 

     The man just shook his head and took a deep breath. “First off, that’s my first name, not my last name so you can drop the ‘mister’, and second, I didn’t do either of those things. I walked straight up here in plain sight, patrolling a usual. Not my fault your eyes were closed and you didn’t see me or that gator two yards from you.”

 

     Kankri looked back at the water and noticed that one of the logs had a tail at one end and eyes on the other. It was floating lazily with its tail slowly swishing back and forth to propel it forward against the gentle current of the river. He let out a scared yelp and scrambled back up towards the main path in an attempt to get away so fast that he tripped on a root and fell to his hands and knees. He didn’t stay on the ground for very long, quickly putting some distance between himself and that area. To his surprise, the ranger not only seemed unaffected by the alligator that could so easily climb up onto the path, but also he was bent over laughing. 

 

     “Just what is so funny about this? That animal could have rushed and bitten me!” He was furious.

 

     Cronus answered his question with another question “You’re not from around here, are you? You come from out of state? That gator doesn’t look like it’s harboring any murderous intent to me.”

 

     Kankri didn’t understand why he was being asked this. This guy wasn’t actually implying that all native Floridians were just okay with wild alligators being so close, was he? “I only live an hour away from here and I’ve been in this state for two years now. What does that have to do with anything?”

 

     The ranger ignored the question again. “If you’re so afraid of what dangerous animals can be lurking around here, then maybe don’t fall asleep by the river. You want me to walk you back to the campgrounds or something? I’m headed back that way anyhow.”

 

     He shook his head no and huffed. “You have some nerve, don’t patronize me. I wasn’t asleep and I can take care of myself, thank you.” He declared as he stormed off deeper down the trail away from camp despite actually wanting to go back. There was no way he was going to go in the same direction as the jerk who frightened and insulted him. 

 

     The ranger didn’t say another word and just went on his way. Kankri kept going until he came to a big suspension bridge that spanned the length of the river. It was the only way he had seen to get across it since he started his journey. As he climbed the steps and walked halfway across the wooden bridge, it swayed softly with his movement. He looked over the side and again wished he had a camera before turning to finally head back in the direction of the camp. By now, he figured that everything should be set up and he hoped he was right because he was sure ready for lunch. 


	2. Lost Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Alright, but tell me, what are you doing out here at four thirty in the morning?” Cronus asked as he took slow steps forward and tossed one of the flashlights in Kankri’s direction.
> 
> He caught it, but not before fumbling with it a little first. He was shocked to find that it was so late and wondered what time it had been when he left. Flipping on the light he was thankful to now have, he shrugged his shoulders at the question seeing as he didn’t actually have a good answer.

     After a quick lunch of a sandwich and some baby carrots, Kankri’s father suggested that as a family, they go birdwatch. Kankri wasn’t too fond of this idea, but he went along with it anyway for his father’s sake and it took a while longer than he expected it to. After various bird bonding experiences and plenty of “Oooh, Kanny, look at that one”,  came time for dinner and preparations for bed, which meant showering. He was hoping that he wouldn’t be dingy enough to have to use the dreaded communal showers on the first day out, but his plans for waiting an extra day were foiled by falling down on his hands and knees earlier. He wasn’t about to climb into his tent where he’d be sleeping for two weeks while being dirty like that, so off to the showers he went.

 

     It wasn’t too bad, he supposed, cleanliness wise. He’d be much happier with a door and a lock for the shower stalls though, instead of only a curtain to conceal himself with. Kankri was just well thankful for at least this one indoor space with running water and plumbing. The water never got hot, even though he turned the heat all the way up, but it did get warm. The pressure wasn’t the best and it felt more like water just drip dripping out onto him than spraying but it was a pleasant contrast to the sticky day outside nonetheless.

 

     After dressing in the stall, he brushed his teeth at one of the sinks and headed out. As he passed by a mirror, he noticed the pink surrounding the freckles on his cheeks, nose, and forehead from being outside all day and made a mental note to keep up with sunscreen application from now forward. That meant he would need to shower every night to wash it off, but it would also mean not burning to a crisp which felt a little more important to him than his pride. As he was leaving, he passed the ranger who had come across him in the woods earlier. Neither said anything verbally, but as Kankri stuck up his nose, Cronus shot a shit eating grin. What an ass.

 

     “Good night, Karkat” Kankri called before he crawled into his tent a couple of yards from his brother’s.

 

     “That’s a bold statement.” came the response.

 

     Kankri ignored the attitude and tried to fall asleep. It took a while, but he eventually succeeded until some time later when the uncomfortableness of sleeping on the ground woke him up and wouldn’t let him get back down.

 

     The easiest and most useful thing he could see to do with his time was to read one of the few books he had hauled along with him. While trying to shift and sit upright in the cramped area, he managed to put a small hole in the top of the tent with his battery operated lantern. First, he mentally scolded his dad for buying cheap tents and second, he scolded himself for not being more careful. He decided on sewing it in the morning if he could find the right materials, but for now, it’s small enough not to be an issue. This trip was only one day in and already making itself out to be the worst trip anybody had ever been on.

 

     After the debacle was over with, he was too frustrated to read anything and instead took his lantern out of the tent and let it guide him on a walk through the forested area again. The paths were clear and if he kept going straight, he wouldn’t have to worry about finding his way back in the dark. He could just turn around and walk straight again.

 

     So he walked and walked and in the dark of night, he barely saw any difference between the trees that he passed. All the branches and fronds looked the same to him and it was easy to lose track of how far he had gone. The suspension bridge that he had passed earlier made for a pleasant landmark but this time he moved past it into paths that he had never seen before.

 

     His better judgment told him to turn around and traverse the area later when the sun was up, but he didn’t listen. It was always “I’ll just go a little bit farther and _then_ I’ll turn around.” so farther and farther he went until finally he had enough and was well tuckered out enough to go back to sleep. Suddenly, a hiss behind him. A thin shadow caught his eye. It moved quick and attacked something small. Kankri wasn’t sure what to think or do so his reflexes took him running down a side path deeper into the wood and away from the guiding river.

 

     Rustling was heard over the sound of heavy breaths and heavy footsteps stomping down on the ground in quick succession. Maybe it had only been a snake, but being alone in the woods in the dark made the idea of getting bitten by an unknown snake a lot scarier. Had it been poisonous or paralyzing, he would have been placed at the mercy of some ranger patrolling the area the next day if it weren’t already too late.

 

     As he ran, he heard startled birds flying away and finally made himself stop. He couldn’t be _that_ lost, right? He just went down one extra path, he just had to find his way back to the river and let it lead him back to the camp.

 

     It didn’t end up to be as simple as he had hoped. The batteries in his lamp were starting to fail at the worst possible time and occasionally it would flicker, leaving him no light to see. Moonlight snuck down through the trees in small patches but none big or bright enough to tell him where to go. Kankri was stuck depending on the flickering lantern that had been used as nothing more than a house decoration before the trip.

 

     He trekked in the direction he hoped would bring him towards where he needed to be but nothing stood out and there were no signs of real progress. There was contemplation about sitting and waiting for daybreak, but he’d rather get back before then and not scare the crap out of his father with his disappearance.

 

     Eventually, he noticed the path getting gradually wider. Just ever so slowly it fanned out. Something was coming up on his side. It was stagnant and rectangular. When he got closer, his lantern revealed that it was a sign and read “Ranger Station Ahead.”

 

     A few excited steps forward and he saw a cabin down the way. A few more steps and he saw nothing. A couple bangs on the lantern to hopefully get it going again, but no light came out. However, a light did come from somewhere else. A window from the cabin emerged as a beacon for Kankri to walk towards as someone inside must have flicked on the lights.

 

     A dimmed motion light turned on when he got close enough to trigger it. An observant ranger noticed and opened the door before Kankri could even think to knock.

 

     Some older night shift gentleman sipping coffee leaned against the frame of the door and raised an eyebrow at the lost boy.

 

     “Can I help you?” asked a gruff voice.

 

     Suddenly, Kankri felt worlds of embarrassed for getting himself into this situation. He explained himself and apparently, according to the ranger, this sort of thing happens more than he would think. He doubts that though, and pins it as a fallacy meant to cushion his feelings

 

     “This younger lad in the other room knows the trails better than I do and he’s got much more energy than I, so I’ll have him escort you.”

 

     “Thank you. I really appreciate it and I’m sorry for the trouble.” His voice came out quieter than he was used to hearing himself speak.

 

     The man nodded once and disappeared behind the door, almost shutting it all the way but not quite. Kankri twiddled his fingers and stared down at the thin beam of light emanating from the cracked open door. Muffled voices were barely heard from inside as no doubt the old ranger was explaining the situation to Kankri’s new guide. The light from the door shadowed and moved as someone came closer and stepped out with two flashlights in hand.

 

     Kankri’s eyes moved from the uniform shoes on the ground upward and went wide when they were met with a smiling familiar face. The cocky bastard was grinning ear to ear and his voice came sickeningly playful.

 

     “So you decided to take me up on my offer of walking you back after all.”

 

     “Please don’t joke about this. I’m lost and cold and already ashamed enough without you poking fun.” His cheeks felt a little warmer and he couldn’t tell if it was an embarrassed blush or remaining heat from the slight burn he had gotten earlier.

 

     “Alright, but tell me, what are you doing out here at four thirty in the morning?” Cronus asked as he took slow steps forward and tossed one of the flashlights in Kankri’s direction.

 

     He caught it, but not before fumbling with it a little first. He was shocked to find that it was so late and wondered what time it had been when he left. Flipping on the light that he was thankful to now have, he shrugged his shoulders at the question seeing as he didn’t actually have a good answer.

 

     “I suppose it wasn’t the most clever idea I’ve had to walk off into the woods at night. I just couldn’t sleep and wanted to clear my mind.”

 

     Luckily, the ranger seemed to accept this answer and didn’t prod on about it.  He started out in the direction of the camp, probably assuming that Kankri would follow, which he did. He caught up and walked by his side, forgetting that the path would eventually thin out and push them closer together, which it did.  Apparently, Cronus wasn’t going to let this walk be a quiet one.

 

     “So what’s your name? Or should I just call you Slightly?”

 

     Kankri gave a look of thorough confusion before answering.

 

     “Slightly..? What do you mean? My name is Kankri.”

 

     “You know, Slightly, Nibs, Tootles, and the lot.”

 

     “No, I assure you that I don’t understand your probably-obscure allusion.”

 

     Cronus clicked his tongue and shook his head. “From Peter Pan? The lost boys?”

 

     “Oh, very funny. You can’t see it but I’m just thrilled.” He had to admit, it was at least a little bit comical and maybe he could laugh at the joke one day, but not tonight.

 

     “Alright, I get it. Someone here hates good times.” He teased and nudged Kankri’s elbow with his own.

 

     Now just what in the world did this insensitive prick think he was doing, laughing and touching him like they were old pals reunited? He flinched away from the contact which made Cronus roll his eyes.

 

     “Maybe we just have different ideas of what a good time is.” Once he finished speaking, he near tripped over a thick root that he was too busy looking at Cronus to notice. The ranger’s quick reflexes helped steady him by grabbing hold of his arm. Annoyed, Kankri grumbled a “Thank you.”

 

     Cronus laughed an insufferable laugh at Kankri’s attempt to be polite.

 

     “You look real tired. Are you sure you want to walk all the way back to your tent when you could just snuggle up in my bed with me for the night?”

 

     Kankri halted dead in his tracks, causing the other to stop as well and mold his face into a confused expression as he waited for Kankri to explain the pause.

 

     He was absolutely baffled at the apparent flirting. Even if it were a joke, and he was pretty sure that it was, Kankri couldn’t think of a more distasteful and inappropriate thing to say in the moment than what Cronus had just said. He scoffed when it never sunk in for Cronus just why he was standing there upset.

 

     “You know what? I’ll return the flashlight tomorrow. I’ll find my way back by myself.” He marched off, resolute even after almost tripping on another something or other on the path that he didn’t see. He heard a sigh from behind him and then the pitter patter of feet moving quick enough to catch up. Cronus didn’t seem very complacent with Kankri’s idea to go off on his own again.

 

     “No, fine, I’m sorry. I’ll keep my thoughts to myself. But you’re not wandering out here alone to trip over a branch and hit your head on a rock and die in the lamest way possible.”

 

     As much as he wanted this prick to leave him be, he didn’t want to be alone in these woods at night again so he didn’t protest.

 

     “Maybe instead of just keeping those thoughts to yourself, don’t have them at all.” He deadpanned and kept his eyes on the ground to keep sight of anything to potentially bring him down.

 

     “Deal… But anyway,“ Kankri sighed at the realization that this guy was really never going to shut his mouth. “What are you doing out here camping by yourself?”

 

     “I’m not alone; I’m here with my brother and my father. It wasn’t exactly my decision whether or not I came.”

 

     “Oh, I get it. I just kind of assumed because I’ve only ever seen you out by your lonesome.”

 

     Kankri shrugged his shoulders and said no more, leaving them in quiet for a few minutes until maybe Cronus couldn't take the quiet anymore or something so he spoke up again. 

 

     “I live really close so I would come here all the time growing up and spend my evenings swimming and hiking and all. I know the area like the back of my hand now. So when I graduated last year and needed to start looking for a place to work, I figured, might as well.”

 

     It sort of took Kankri aback how suddenly genuine and human the ranger was being. Why the guy felt like he needed to keep up a conversation was beyond him, but if Cronus was going to be respectable then so could he. What he was saying was actually sort of interesting anyhow.

 

     “Swimming? You saw the same as I did that there are alligators in the river.”

 

     Cronus looked about equally surprised that Kankri was willing to bite and respond.

 

     “Well, in the summer it’s maybe not as safe to jump in. But since they’re cold-blooded, when the water gets to be about seventy degrees, it’s too cold for them to want to eat anything. If it drops maybe twenty more degrees from there, they’ll do the alligator equivalent of hibernating down in their dens.”

 

     Kankri wasn’t sure why he was surprised that Cronus would know the specifics of that sort of thing, seeing as how it was pretty much his job to,  but it did feel a bit impressive. He was also thankful for the clear effort to put the information into simplified words to make it easier to understand. Though he got the idea that Cronus put most everything of what he said into simple words anyway.

 

     “I think I’d still be too afraid. You’re braver than I am.”

 

     He was too busy watching his step to notice when Cronus started to switch paths so the ranger reached out and tugged on his shirt sleeve to get his attention. As they turned down the new way, the campsite came into view a distance away. A dim oil lamp burned over by the tents. Kankri must have taken some crazy long roundabout route to get to the ranger station in the first place because this walk felt like nothing in comparison to the one he had taken earlier. They walked in a comfortable quietness for a little before Cronus finally broke it, as he seemed to always do.

 

     “How about I give you my number so that if you get lost again, you can just call me and I can help you?” He asked with a gentle smile.

 

     Kankri wasn’t sure if this was more inappropriate flirting or if it was genuine, but either way, there was a problem with that request.

 

     “Even if I wanted to, that would be a more difficult task than you may think. My father wanted this trip to be a disconnection from technology so he made us leave our phones in the glove box of the locked car. I would have to sneak into his tent without waking him, find his keys, and then sneak out to go get it out of the car. On top of that, I would have to sneak the keys back into his tent after all is said and done.”

 

     There was a pause.

 

     “So do you want to?”

 

     Another, slightly longer pause. Kankri looked down at his feet as he thought and then back up into the taller boy’s eyes.

 

     “Yes.”


	3. Cuts and Kisses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Shh,” Kankri felt another hand come up to his mouth to quiet him and then it slowly fell. “ You don’t have to keep this hard to get act up anymore. Just relax.”
> 
> Kankri’s heart sunk, was sinking downwards until it found a new home deep in his stomach as Cronus leaned in closer and fluttered his eyes to a close with lips slightly puckered. The hand on his waist was slowly slinking around his back.

Cronus cracked a smile and nodded, lowering his voice to something like a whisper when they reached the gathering of tents. 

 

     “Which one belongs to the key guardian?”

 

     Using two fingers in a gun-like shape, Kankri pointed to a tent barely bigger than the other ones. Using one finger, he pressed his hand to his mouth to tell Cronus to be quiet before tip-toeing in the direction he pointed. 

 

     Deep breath. Breathe in, and hold it. Kankri started pulling the zipper up and no matter how slowly he moved, there was a dull zipping noise and a soft crinkling of the tent fabric. He managed to get it halfway and decided that it’ll do because it’s space enough for him to sneak in. Or so he thought.

 

     Kankri stepped a foot into the tent and as he tried pulling the rest of himself in, he bumped up against the zipper ‘door’ and cringed as there was a quick spurt of “zzzip!” Frozen in place, he peered at his father who stirred in his sleep and mumbled before rolling over and snoring again. A deep sigh of relief wanted to escape from Kankri but the most difficult parts were yet to come. 

 

     Now completely in the tent, crouched down near the couple bags, he started to look for the keys. If memory served him correctly, he last saw his father put them in the orange backpack, but most of what he was seeing in there was cookware; plates and utensils and what not. He felt like giving up, and didn’t much understand why he thought this was a good idea in the first place but suddenly… there they were. One key hung out of a side pouch and he knew the rest must be attached to it.

 

     Pulling his hand out of the main compartment, he snagged his skin on a sharp knife of which the protective sleeve had slid off at some point. With a sharp gasp, crimson ran in a small stream from the freshly cut lifeline on his palm.

 

     “Kankri, Is that you? What are you doing?” A tired voice emerged from the dark. 

 

     Kankri gripped his now bleeding hand and turned his head to face his father. He hated lying, especially to his own family, but he wasn’t about to get into trouble and spend the rest of the trip probably attached to his dad’s hip as his punishment. 

 

     “I’m sorry, I didn’t want to wake you. I woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep so I decided to take a quick walk and I tripped and cut my hand on a rock or a piece of glass or something.” He held up his hand for his father to see the wound. “I’m looking for the first aid kit.”

 

     His dad squinted to see but wasn’t awake enough yet to get a clear picture. He reached over to turn on a dim lantern and rubbed his eyes with balled up fists as he yawned. Kankri saw his chance and on an impulse, took it. He snatched the keys out of the bag with his healthy hand and shoved them into his pocket. Luckily, his father didn’t seem to notice and once he was done yawning and stretching, he reached beside himself for a little orange box that had ‘first aid’ written on it in black sharpie and handed it to Kankri. 

 

     “You should be more careful next time. Maybe we should save walks for when the sun is up from now on, huh?”

 

     Kankri nodded and took out a bandage from the kit. 

 

     “I will. You should get back to sleep. I’m going to treat this and then try to do the same.”

 

     Not an ounce of protest came from his father who turned the lamp off and rolled over to get back to dreaming. Kankri got outside but peeked his head back in to whisper.

 

     “Just as a warning, I’ll probably be back later if I bleed through this bandage.”

 

     Already back half asleep, his dad didn’t say anything more, just gave a noncommittal “mmhm.”

 

     Kankri finally let out his small sigh of relief now that he was in the clear and had an excuse to be in the tent later to return the keys to where he found them. He held his palm up to see it better in the dim light provided by the burning oil lamp above him and was happy to see that the cut wasn’t as bad as he had originally thought. He took care to bandage it up right away and as he did, Cronus crept closer. 

 

     “You get the k- Oh shit, what happened?”

 

     “Language.” Kankri warned with narrowed eyes.

 

     “Sorry, whatever... Well?”

 

     “Yes, I got the keys. And don’t worry about this. I nicked myself on a knife while I was looking through one of the bags.”

 

     “Oh, alright. But I heard talking and I thought I saw a light go on in there. Didn’t you get caught?”

 

     “Yes, well-” Kankri was interrupted by the sound of his father’s tent shifting as he rolled over. The pair had been keeping their voices down, but Kankri wasn’t about to take any chances and lowered his voice further. “Let’s have this conversation when we get a bit further away.”

 

     Cronus gave the ‘okay’ sign with his hand, making a circle with his thumb and pointer finger while the other three fingers stuck straight up and they kept on walking towards the parking lot. Kankri looked over his shoulder in paranoia every now and again, and when he deemed them to be far enough away, he cleared his throat and explained what had happened in the tent. 

     With a playful nudge, Cronus let out a chuckle and a joking voice. “Ooh, someone’s a bad boy. Lyin’ to the man that brought him into the world.” There he went again acting as if the two of them were buddies. Kankri found himself more than annoyed but kept to himself and hoped his lack of reaction was received as a negative. Cronus seemed blissfully oblivious to the ill feelings. 

 

     “Maybe we should just turn back and forget this. It’s not as if I’ll actually have any use of your phone number when I won’t have my phone the entire time I’m here.”

 

     He was met with a fake and exaggerated pout from Cronus. “Come on, when was the last time you’ve ever done anything at least a little rebellious? Don’t you want to stick it to your old man? And don’t you want my number for, y’know... Later?”

 

     Kankri had to actually think for a moment to find the last time he rebelled and ended up coming short of anything serious. He just shook his head lightly. 

 

     “I don’t see any benefit to rebelling. My father has my best interest in mind and intentionally disobeying him is ultimately pointless. I love him and I really cannot think of any reason I’d want to ‘stick it to him.’” He paused a moment and Cronus looked at him expectantly as he waited for an answer to his last question. “Though I suppose you’re nice enough and continuing a friendship with you may be worthwhile enough to accept your phone number.” 

 

     “That’s what I like to hear, I knew you couldn’t resist me.”

 

     “I am not so easily susceptible to peer pressure. My decision was not made because of me not being able to withstand your personability, it was of my own volition.”

 

     Cronus just shrugged his shoulders. Apparently, as long as Kankri was willing to go along with the little plan, he didn’t care whose decision it all was. The two followed the flashlight-lit path for another few minutes or so in relative quiet. Eventually, dirt came to gravel, came to asphalt and they were standing beside the silver minivan. Kankri hit the little unlock button on the key fob and there came a deep clicking noise from the vehicle.

 

     Through the passenger side door, he fished his phone out of the glove box and powered it on. After a moment of the screen flashing its introductory logos, Kankri was able to enter his contacts list. He pressed the new contact button and entered the name ‘Cronus Ampora’ before handing it over to have the phone number put in.

 

     After a few moments longer and much more typing than Kankri would have thought it would take to just enter a number, Cronus handed the phone back. He was actually amused to find that Cronus had entered in several emojis in lieu of his last name. It was harmless and comical and Kankri managed a chuckle at it as he pressed save. After making sure it was there and correct, he turned the phone back off and put it back into the glove box of the van.

 

     When he emerged and shut the door, he was shocked to find a hand suddenly at his waist. He tensed and furrowed his brows up at Cronus. 

 

     “Excuse me, but what are you-”

 

     “Shh,” Kankri felt another hand come up to his mouth to quiet him and then it slowly fell. “ You don’t have to keep this hard to get act up anymore. Just relax.”

 

     Kankri’s heart sunk, was sinking downwards until it found a new home deep in his stomach as Cronus leaned in closer and fluttered his eyes to a close with lips slightly puckered. The hand on his waist was slowly slinking around his back.

 

     In an instant, Kankri mustered more physical strength than he was aware he even possessed and placed his hands square on Cronus’ chest to push away. Relieved that they hadn’t actually gotten close enough for mouth to mouth contact, he let out a deep breath and began to seethe. 

 

     “I find it very inappropriate and triggering that you would attempt something like that without so much as asking for permission. What is going on inside your head? I am not putting on any kind of act and I do not appreciate unsolicited displays of affection and lust. Not to mention, this is your workplace and you are in uniform on duty. I’ve never seen anything more unprofessional in all my years.”

 

     “Whoa, chill out. I just thought you were after a little more than a phone number tonight. You don’t have to get all frosted with me for proposing a little backseat bingo.” Cronus threw up his hands defensively.

 

     “Perhaps if you had asked me before moving forwards, you could have gotten a much more level-headed response.”

 

     “So you’re just mad that I didn’t ask?”

 

     “Primarily, yes. It’s very impolite to make advances at someone without ensuring that they are wanted first.”

 

     “Fine, then I’ll ask. Can I kiss you now?”

 

     “Are you out of your mind? No.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I really just start this and then not update for months??  
> Yes. That's exactly what I did. But I will try to be better about it now.
> 
> And I'm sorry if this is, for whatever reason, something you were looking forward to reading! I have work full time and online classes and it's difficult to balance everything.
> 
> P.S. Please, PLEASE leave comments if you have anything you want to say. I'd absolutely love to hear any sort of feedback whether it be on the writing technique or the story content, whether it's a tip or an opinion or a critique or if you just want to tell me what part is your favorite. I'd love to hear from anyone and everyone who takes the time to read this.


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